Charges brought against alleged head of grandparent scam gang
A young man from North Rhine-Westphalia must answer in court for commercial fraud. He is suspected of belonging to a criminal group that defrauded elderly people of substantial sums of money.
Charges brought against alleged head of grandparent scam gang
The Wiesbaden public prosecutor's office has brought charges against a 22-year-old man. He is accused of heading an organised group that defrauded senior citizens of approximately €680,000 nationwide in the past year.
The perpetrators called their victims and posed as police officers. By presenting false information, they convinced the victims to hand over large amounts of cash. In December, the main suspect was finally stopped in Wiesbaden. Officers arrested him as he was leaving an apartment with €245,000 in a bag. The money had come from an elderly woman who had previously been manipulated over the telephone.
Investigators from another federal state had provided Wiesbaden authorities with the crucial information about the impending handover. The suspect from the Dormagen area has been in remand custody since then. Investigators suspect that the gang was controlled from outside Germany and the defendant took over national coordination. A trial date at the regional court has not yet been set.
Source: STERN.de
Source: Google News AT — Crime (de)